U.S. Secretary of Commerce Raimondo Announces $3B in Funding for EDA Grants
Thursday, July 22, 2021
On Thursday morning, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo announced that the Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) will "implement a series of programs, collectively called Investing in America’s Communities, to equitably invest the $3 billion it received from President Biden’s American Rescue Plan Act to help communities across the country build back better."
The EDA investment is the largest economic development initiative from the Department of Commerce in decades.
Later today, former RI Governor Raimondo will address the White House Briefing Room to further lay out the Biden Administration’s vision for how this historic investment will help every community not only rebuild their local economy but also reimagine it for the future.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“President Biden’s American Rescue Plan delivered direct relief to the American people and was the first step to energizing the American economy following the devastating impacts of the coronavirus pandemic,” said Secretary Raimondo. “Now, its medium-term investments will allow communities around the country not only rebuild but reimagine their economy for the future.”
Many of the focus areas of the grants could be a boon to Rhode Island
“With an emphasis on equity, EDA’s investments made possible by the American Rescue Plan will directly benefit communities that have been denied full access to economic prosperity and who have been disproportionately impacted by the coronavirus pandemic,” Secretary Raimondo continued. “We will work with local communities across the country on innovative new approaches to ensure that we can increase American competitiveness by strengthening our workforce, businesses, and communities and build back better in regions across the country.”
Investing in America’s Communities was launched with six Notices of Funding Opportunity:
- Build Back Better Regional Challenge ($1 billion)
- Good Jobs Challenge ($500 million)
- Economic Adjustment Assistance Challenge ($500 million)
- Indigenous Communities Challenge ($100 million)
- Travel, Tourism, and Outdoor Recreation Grants ($750 million)
- Statewide Planning, Research, and Networks Grants ($90 million)
As part of the six programs, the Department of Commerce and EDA, working with President Biden’s Interagency Working Group on Coal and Power Plant Communities, is making a Coal Communities Commitment, which allocates $300 million in American Rescue Plan funds to coal communities. This investment will ensure that they have the resources to recover from the pandemic and will help create new jobs and opportunities, including through the development or expansion of a new industry sector.
The American Rescue Plan funding empowers EDA to build upon its greatest strength—flexible funding to support community-led economic development—and provide larger, more transformational investments across the nation. Under the American Rescue Plan, EDA will make grants to state and local governmental entities, institutions of higher education, not-for-profit entities, unions, and Tribes. EDA is not authorized to provide grants to individuals or for-profit entities.
EDA’s Investment Priorities, the first of which is equity, were announced by the Biden Administration on April 14. They provide an overarching framework for all of the EDA’s grants, including the investments that will be made under the American Rescue Plan.
Notices of funding opportunities for each program will be released later.
Related Articles
- WATCH LIVE: Raimondo Confirmation Hearing Before U.S. Senate Commerce Committee READ HER TESTIMONY
- Despite Federal Nomination, Raimondo Continues to be Marketed by Point Judith Capital
- Raimondo Blasts China for “Anti-Competitive” Behavior, Won’t Commit to Keeping Huawei Sanctions
- Senate Committee Approves Raimondo Commerce Secretary Nomination, Goes to Full Senate for Vote
- Raimondo Makes Last Minute Appointment, Names New Head of COVID Response, McKee Not Informed
- EDITORIAL: RI’s Failed Vaccination Program - Raimondo Broke It, McKee Needs to Fix It
- After Delays, McKee’s Transition Team Announced, Does Not Include Raimondo Staffers or Top Employers
- Top Minority Leader Calls Out Raimondo on Failed Promise of Licenses for Undocumented Immigrants
- Whitcomb: Respectable Raimondo Years; URI’s Dr. General Flynn, Gravest National Security Threat
- RI House Republicans Call on Raimondo to Set Specific Date for Transfer of Power
- AARP Calls on Raimondo to Immediately Revamp Vaccination Plan to Protect Older Residents
- Raimondo Under Attack From All Directions for Failed Vaccination Program
- Raimondo Administration Defends Vaccination Strategy, But Numbers Don’t Add Up
- Secretary Raimondo Hosts White House Press Conference - Says She Recreated RI’s Economy
- U.S. Sec. of Commerce Raimondo Pushes to Advance Offshore Wind, Signs MOU with Ørsted
- “It Makes No Sense” - Lawless on Harris & Raimondo Visiting RI to Sell Biden’s Infrastructure Plan
- East Coast Faces Gas Price Spike Due to Ransomware on Pipeline, Raimondo Says Attacks More Often
- Raimondo Reportedly Took Advantage of “Little-Known” Federal Law to Avoid Tax Hit
- How Is RI’s Economy Performing Against, Say Arizona? Even Raimondo Knows
- Senate Passes $1.9T Package, Top Political Scientist Talks Biden’s Stimulus, Raimondo and Cuomo
- RIPTA Drivers Seek Vaccine Priority, Say No Response From Raimondo for Two Months
- U.S. Sanctions on China—The Backdrop to Raimondo Confirmation
- Raimondo Confirmed as United States Secretary of Commerce
- UPDATED: Raimondo Officially Resigns; McKee Announces Staff Appointments
- Raimondo Sells East Side Home UPDATED
